Hose-supporter



J. H. BURT.

HOSE SUPPORTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1920.

1,391,298. PatentedSept. 20,1921.

FnL El- Fnh 4; F113 5.

INVENTOR.

mm 75AM,

A TTORNE Y.

WITNESS:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. BURT, OF SPRINGFIELD. MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE ASSIGNMENTS TO THRIFT-GARTER CO., INC., 015 NEW YORK,

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

N. Y., A

HOSE-SUPPORTER.

Application filed July 29,

T 0 all whomit may concern.

Be it known that I, JAMES H. BURT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Hampden andState of Massachusetts. have invented a new and useful Hose-Supporter,of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices worn on the leg belowthe knee for the purpose of supporting hose, and consists essentially ofan elastic band to encircle the leg, which is provided with certainpeculiar fastening means, and one or more depending elements forattachment to the stocking or to which the stocking is attached, suchelement or elements being attached or connected in a special manner orby special means with said band, together with such other parts andmembers as may be necessary or desirable in order to make the supportercomplete and render the same efficient in every respect, all ashereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to produce a hose supporter theseveral parts of which are connected without the aid of sewing orstitching, so that such supporter is very cheap to manufacture, and yetthe same is strong, durable, and convenient, being as much so and aspracticable and eflicient as supporters which are made up by stitchingthe parts together.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is adapted to encircle the leg in a manner similar tothat in which a belt encircles the body, so that the force applied tothe leg is equally distributed and the strain on the encircling band ofthe supporter is also equally distributed, instead of being morepronounced at one point than another as is commonly the case with theordinary suporter. This is a very important feature, Eecause the comfortof the person wearing the supporter is enhanced, and the life of thesupporter prolonged.

Still another object is to produce a hose supporter which is moredurable and lasting in its elastic part than other hose supporters. Thisis due partly to the above-noted belt construction, and partly to theabsence of stitching or sewing and of the doubling of the elastic partsuch as is required in the old construction. The strain on my sup-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 399,730.

porter band is evenly distributed throughout the same, and one part ofthe rubber portions thereof is not liable to break sooner than anotherpart.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the followingdescription.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by themeans illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of a hose supporter which embodies a practical form ofmy invention, such supporter having two depending attaching elements forthe stocking, and being represented with the band unhooked ordisconnected at the ends; Fig. 2, an enlarged vertical section throughthe connection between the band and one of the aforesaid hose-attachingelements; Fig. 3, a plan of the buckle used in the aforesaid connectionand which forms part of the fastening means for the band whereby thelatter is attached to the leg; Fig. 4, a plan of the buckle employed inthe connection for the other stocking-attaching elements; Fig. 5, a planof the male member of the aforesaid fastener, and, Fig. 6, a plan of oneof the male members of the stocking fasteners.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Although I have shown a hose supporter which included a pair ofattaching elements for the stocking, it is to be understood that onlyone of such elements need be employed in many cases, and that in suchevent the other of said elements is omitted.

The supporter herein illustrated comprises an elastic band 1 which isdesigned to belt or encircle the leg below the knee, depending tabs 22and 3-3, buckles 4 and 5 by means of which said tabs are connected withsaid band, a male fastening member 6 which is adapted to engage withsaid buckle 4 for the purpose of securing said band to the leg, a malefastening member 7 for the stocking at the lower end of each of saidtabs 2, and a female fastening member 8 for the stocking at the lowerend of each of said tabs 3.

There are two narrow, transverse slots 9, an intermediate, narrow slot10, and a wide slot 11 the ends of which converge from the inner to theouter sides of said last-named slot, in the buckle4. The slot 10 isbetween the slots 9 and adjacent to the bottom edge of the buckle 4.

The buckle is slotted similarly to the buckle 4 except that said buckle5 is shorter than the other and does not have therein the slot 11, butonly the slots 9 and 10.

The buckle 6 has therein two transverse slots 12 adjacent to one end,and has struck therefrom a tongue 13 adjacent to the other end, saidtongue having converging edges and being adapted to enter the slot 11 inthe buckle 4 and thereby engage and interlock withsaid buckle.

The members 7 and 8 are similar to the other male and female membersused in connection with hose and for other garmentsu porting purposes.Each member 7 has a lieaded stud or post 14 projecting from one sidethereof, and slots 15-15 on opposite sides or above and below said post.Each member 8 is adapted to be engaged with its associated post or stud14, after the garment or the stocking has been caught over said stud, tosecure the engaged portion of the fabric in place, all in the usual andwell-known manner.

The band 1 consists of a single piece, and the tabs 2 and 3.in eachstocking-supporting element are formed out of one piece, as willpresentl more clearl appear.

In ad ition to the s ots 12, in the buckle or male member 6 of the bandfastener, there is a large slot 16 from which the tongue 13 is cut,althou h said slot 16 is lon er than said tongue. ne end of the band 115 passed from the inside of the member 6 outwardl through the slot 16,next inwardl throug the outer slot 12, then outwar ly again through theinner slot 12, and finally inwardly again throu h said slot 16, a shortlength, as 17, being eft on the inside of the band proper. Thefrictional resistance afforded by the contact between the parts thusconnected is sufficient to hold the member 6 in place on the band 1,althou h said member ma be adjusted on said ban if desired, as Wlll bereadil seen. -The tongue 13 is inside of the doub e thickness ofmaterial which passes throu h the slot 16, and when said tongue is hooed into the slotted part at 11, of the buckle or female member 4 of theband fastener, such part is received between said material and saidtongue.

The other end of the band 1 is passed from the inside outwardly throughthe right-hand slot 9, in the female member 4, and thence to the leftand inwardly through the lefthand slot 9 in said member, leaving anexterior horizontal loop 18, a short len th, as 19, of said bandextending behind t e slot 11 and be end the left-hand end of saidmember. a vhen the tongue 13 is in the slot 11 and in looking engagementwith the member 4, the part 19 of the band 1 is behind said tongue andadjacent portions of said member. The member 4 is adjustable on theband.

Themember 6 is hooked into the member 4 and unhooked therefrom in themanner usual in fasteners of this general type, and when said membersare in engagement with each other the band 1 is held securely on theleg, and the parts 17 and 19 protect the leg from said members.

The tabs 2 and 3 which are attached to the member 4 are formed and theconnection between said tabs and the band 1 is made in the followingmanner: Starting with one end of the strip of tape or other material,with which said tabs are produced, against the inside face of the member4, as represented at 20 in Fig. 2, said strip passes up over the top ofsaid member, down on the outside thereof through the loop 18, and belowsaid member to be looped to receive the attached fastener 8 and formtheshort tab of this stocking-attaching element, and then passes upwardlythrough said loop 18 again; next said strip passes over the top of saidmember down behind the same to and forwardly through the slot 10 in saidmember, and below the latter to be looped to receive the attachedfastener 7 and form the long tab of said element, the descending portionof said long tab passing behind and under said last-named fastener, andthe ascending portion thereof passing rearwardly through the bottom slot15 and forwardly through the upper slot 15 in said last-named fastener;and, finally, said ascending portion passes rearwardly through said slot10 and upwardly between the back sides of said member and the terminalportion of the strip at 20 and the" inside of that portion of the stripof which mention was first made as passing down behind said member, overthe top of said member between the two portions of the strip already ontop thereof, and down to end at the opposite terminal, at 21, betweenthe two thicknesses of tape already mentioned as being in front of saidmember. Thus formed and united with the member 4 and the band 1 the tabs2 and 3 are held securely in place by frictional engagement, and withoutsewing or stitching, so also is said member on said band, unless theparts be loosened to enable the former to be adjusted on the latter.

The fastener or buckle 5 is united with the band 1 and the tabs of thesecond stockin gattaching element are formed and the connection betweenthem and said band is made in precisely the same manner as previouslydescribed relative to the first stocking-attaching element. Thefasteners 7 and 8 in the second pair are attached to their IL spectivetabs or the latter are attached o them just as in the first case.

It is now clearly to be seen in what manner I am able to produce astrong, durable, and serviceable hose supporter by relying simply andsolely on friction to hold the parts in place, without the aid of anystitching, sewing, or similar securing means.

The supporter is applied in much the same way as other types ofsupporters for short hose, and further explanation relative thereto isnot deemed to be necessary.

When the supporter is in place the band 1 encircles the leg like a belt,and the advantages accruing therefrom, of which mention has been made,are obtained. There are no stitches in the band to impair the same, andno looped or doubled portions thereof to cause the strain and wear to beunevenly distributed. The tabs are properly positioned and. adapted tofunction to the best advantage.

More or less change in the shape, size, construction, and arrangement ofsome or all of the parts of this supporter may be made without departingfrom the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what isclaimed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1.As an improved article of manufacture, a hose supporter comprising aband adapted to encircle the leg, slotted fastening members connectedwith the terminals of said band, and solely dependent on friction tohold them in place, said band having a looped part along one side of andbetween two of the slots in one of said fastening members, and tabsindependent of said band and carried through another slot in and overthe top of said last-named fastening member, and between said member andsaid looped part of the band, and also solely dependent on friction tohold them in place, said tabs being provided with stocking fasteningmembers.

2. The combination, in a hose supporter, with a band adapted to encirclethe leg, of

a fastening member having therein two narrow and a wide paralleltransverse slots. and a longitudinal slot intermediate of saidfirstnamed two slots and adjacent to and parallel with one edge of saidmember, one terminal of said band being passed through said narrowtransverse slots and looped on one side of said member, a fasteningmember having therein two narrow and a wide parallel transverse slots,and provided with a tongue to enter the wide slotin said first-namedfastening member, the other terminal of said band being passed throughsaid wide and narrow slots and back through said wide slot in saidsecond-named fastening member, a strip looped to form tabs and passingbetween said first-named fastening member and the looped portion of saidband, and through said longitudinal slot in said firstnamed fasteningmember, and stocking-fastening members connected with said tabs.

3. In a hose supporter, a band adapted to encircle the leg, a buckle onsaid band, said buckle having therein parallel transverse slots and anintermediate longitudinal slot at right angles to said transverse slots,and said 7 band passing through said transverse slots and forming a loopon one side of said buckle, a strip looped to form two tabs, and havingtwo thicknesses thereof between said buckle and said loop of the band,and two thicknesses on the other side of said buckle and passing throughsaid longitudinalslot, one terminal of said strip being between two ofthe thickness thereof and the other terminal of said strip being betweensaid buckle and the adjacent thicknesses of the strip,stocking-fastening members supported by said tabs, and means to securesaid band to the leg.

JAMES H. BURT. Witnesses F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS.

